Malone University Athletics

CANTON, Ohio - The Malone University baseball team took two from Ohio Dominican University on a rainy Friday morning to stay alive in the race for the final postseason spot in the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC) Tournament. The Pioneers took a lopsided game one 14-1 in seven innings and defeated the Panthers 7-1 in game two.

At the conclusion of play, Malone is back at .500 with a 23-23 record while Ohio Dominican stumbles to 18-26. In G-MAC action, the Panthers hold a one-game lead over the Pioneers at 13-17 to 12-18.
 
GAME ONE RECAP:
Malone claimed a 3-0 lead with the help of an Ohio Dominican error and an RBI single of the bat of Vincent Alvarez. A wild pitch and sacrifice fly by Zach Root helped extend the lead in the first inning. The Pioneers made it 5-0 with an RBI single from Root and a sacrifice bunt by Rafe Bonifay that scored an unearned run.
 
Extra base hits from Shane Coblentz and Reilly Tyna helped push the lead to 9-0 in the bottom of the fourth. An error provided one run for the Panthers, but a five-spot for Malone in the bottom of the sixth put the game out of reach at 14-1. Colin Coblentz slugged a two-run homerun while Charlie Roberts and Robert Gumino provided runs for the team in the inning.
 
The biggest talking point besides the wet playing conditions was the job by starting pitcher Jackson Phelps. The senior struck out a career-high 12 batters and allowed just one hit and zero earned runs. He worked around an error in the first when Alvarez gunned down a would-be base stealer at third for the final out. He sat down ten in a row spanning from the second to the fifth innings before he allowed the lone base hit in the sixth. Phelps (4-4) struck out the side in a 1-2-3 top of the seventh to secure the victory.
 
GAME TWO RECAP:
A solo homerun put Ohio Dominican up 1-0 on the first batter of the game. The Panthers loaded the bases to potentially add on, but starting pitcher Ashton Snyder induced a flyout and picked off a baserunner to eliminate the scoring threat. A leadoff double by Tyna in the third put Bonifay in position to drive in the game-tying run on a sacrifice bunt.
 
In the bottom of the third, a failed pickoff attempt plated one run and Tyna blasted a two-run homerun to pull ahead 4-1. In the fourth inning, Snyder once again pitched himself out of a jam with a pair of strikeouts with runners in scoring position. The Pioneers loaded the bases in the bottom half of the inning, but escaped the jam themselves.
 
Malone loaded the bases again in the sixth, this time on three walks. Colin Coblentz was plunked to score one and Doran Mast shot one the other way to make the score 7-1. Snyder (3-5) threw a complete game where he struck out three and allowed just six hits and one walk.
 
UP NEXT:
The regular season concludes on Saturday, May 2 for senior day. The action begins at 2:00 P.M. for the final two games against Ohio Dominican. Malone needs to win both and complete the sweep to stay alive in the postseason hunt.